The role of the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) is to strengthen policy and programme coherence of the United Nations (UN) at the regional level. Chaired by the Deputy Secretary-General and convened by the Regional Commissions, the RCM fosters and enhances interagency collaboration, as mandated by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC resolution 1998/46).

With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Member States committed to achieving “a comprehensive, far-reaching and people-centred set of universal and transformative Goals and targets”, which integrate the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. The core emphasis placed in the 2030 Agenda is on “leaving no one behind.”

The RCM provides a platform for exchanging views on major strategic developments and challenges facing the region. Through this forum consensus is reached and policy coherence developed on regional priorities and regional responses to global priorities. The RCM also serves as a tool to implement the Secretary-General’s global priorities, such as climate change, gender equality, health and combating the financial crisis and poverty at the regional level and also supports subregional organizations, including ASEAN, SAARC and PIF, to ensure complementarities between respective visions and the 2030 Agenda.

The Asia-Pacific RCM constitutes two tiers:

Periodic executive-level meetings to interpret and implement policy level consensus on opportunities for increased regional inter-governmental cooperation, and what the UN system can do in support of this process, including interaction between regional and country level development, and interaction between humanitarian, security and development issues; and

Operational-level Thematic Working Groups to focus on specific operational programmatic issues that could benefit from improved regional cooperation.

The policy-coordination function of the RCM cooperates with the regional United Nations Development Group (UNDG) which ensures coherent UN approaches and policy responses to substantive and operational issues at the country level through United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs), and if applicable translates the policy recommendations arrived at through the RCM into action at the country level through the UNCTs.

The Asia-Pacific RCM has seeks to focus on common areas and interests through a number of Thematic Working Groups (TWGs): Statistics, Resource Efficient Growth, Sustainable Societies, Inclusive Development and Poverty Eradication, Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience, Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Education 2030+. More Information

El Niño impacts on weather systems over Asia-Pacific have been predominantly interpreted as wet (flood) or dry (drought) conditions. However El Niño impacts on weather patterns and its associated biophysical and socioeconomic consequences are complex and highly variable over space and time due to various factors.